> The salary cap in the first year of the deal will be flexible, with the previously set $70.2 million cap ceiling operating as a guide. The cap will drop to $64.3 million for the 2013-14 season, up from $60 million as proposed by the NHL earlier this week. That’s good news for the Flyers, who won’t need to do too much chopping to get down to that number. The Flyers have approximately $57 million committed to 16 players for 2013-14.

> We should call the shortened season Ilya Bryzgalov's last chance to persuade the Flyers he should stay in Philadelphia. That's because all NHL teams will be equipped with two compliance buyouts, also known as contract amnesties, to buy players out of their deal to get to the new salary cap number. No players may be bought out during the shortened season, though they must be bought out prior to the 2013-14 season.

They always find a loophole. Always. That contract is so awful. This isn't good news for Pens fans.

I think both, ron. I think Bryzgalov has it in him to be a good goalie, I've seen it before. If you've lurked on here long enough, you know I'm the crazy guy that thought Bryzgalov was better than Giguere even in the height of Giguere's popularity. I believe in him certainly. The Flyers also have to make a concerted effort to tie up their loose ends just like we do. We weren't the only ones embarrassed in those playoffs. The Flyers weren't prize pigs themselves. So, without Pronger (who willed a minor league goalie to game 6 of the Finals), they need to figure out something to get more mileage out of a defense that's only iffy at this point. Remember, when you lose Pronger like this, you also lose his partner. Matt Carle is porous defensively, it was only next to Pronger that he looked good. So, now you've lost a whole pairing and Timonen is aging himself. So, I think maybe they need to get their forwards a little more involved in the defensive side of things - something they didn't do against Pittsburgh or New Jersey in the playoffs. Better defense always makes for a better goalie...

That said, I hope they fail. No matter what, I want Philadelphia to fail at everything they do.

Do you feel that is because Bryz will rebound or that Philly won't want to eat all that money?

I'll go with door #3 - they won't do it because (1) they don't have any better options in the system and (2) it's going to cost them to try to get one in free agency.

Personally, I think Bryz was a bit beneficiary of the defensive system in Phoenix combined with the coaching of Sean Burke. IMO it's no coincidence that Bryz hasn't been the same since leaving and that Smith has looked like a god since going there despite years of mediocrity.

The Flyers have more pressing issues than any single player. They have Hartnell and Simmonds under old CBA contracts, they have to sign both Giroux and Couturier in the same year with the variance rules, plus Timmonen is in the last year of his contract. They also have most of their young talent in the NHL right now. I don't see a scenario in which they do not move Bryz to get into range.

penny lane wrote:so do they enter the Luongo stakes ? people were talking back in august that luongo was going to the leafs.

So, I would guess that there would be a rule prohibiting teams from buying out a contract they didn't enter into or trade for BEFORE the rule was created... but who knows. If there is a disingenuous way to get it done, I wouldn't put it past GMPH.

Bryzgalov only makes .33 mil more than Luongo does. It would be INSANELY stupid for Philly to buyout Bryz and replace him with Luongo (given that you're buying the player out because you don't want to pay the contract). It's basically the same contract.

They should be. They will have roughly $6.8M in cap space while needing to sign roughly 8 players to round out their roster. Of course they can buy out Pronger and free up another almost $5M. They will need to make some moves in the next 2 years with Giroux, Schenn, and Coturier all due new contracts after next year.

I don't think players are on the IR during the offseason. I am still of the belief that Pronger stays with the Flyers. If he gets healthy(he won't anyway so none of this matters), they want him playing.